Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-04-15
RAILROAD ROBBERS ARRESTED.
One of the Most Daring Gangs Ever
Known Brought to Bay.

One of the Most Daring Gangs Ever
Known Brought to Bay.
PITTSBURGH, April 1.-THE most i'm
portant arrests ever made in this part OF
the country were begun at an early houi
this morning. The officers of the Par
Handle railroad have in custody many OF
the most daring gang of railroad robbers
this country has ever known. How many
members belong to 1t is not known, but
they run up into the hundreds The steal
ings extended over period of two or three
years and the amount stolen reaches near
ly $500, 900. Simultaneous arrests were
made all along the line of the Pan Handle
road between here and Columbus. War
rants have been in the hands of officers
some time, and the persons arrested com
prise nearly the entire freight men of the
line. They include the conductors, brake
men, engineers and tiremen. The ring
leaders of the gang are outside the rail
| road business and are unknown, and
some of them are now believed to be un-
der arrest.
1.-The first arrests were made about
O'Clock this morning, the police surpris-
ing Is men at their boarding houses. AT
daylight, fully 90 men, all railroad EN-
plOyes-conductors, brakemen, hremen
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS behind the bars.
In speaking of the arrests prominent
officer of the Pan Handle road said For
three years past the Pan Handle road has
been Systematically robbed. Cars on sid
ings and cars on moving trains were
broken open and goods stolen, including
every description of merchandise. 1t Is
estimated that at least 100000 worth of
goods were taken for which the company
had to pay. In August last we obtained a
p1 tn
to push it to the end. Detectives were
employed, who followed up every scent
and finally we had the information upon
which to proceed When everything was
ready we decided to make a move along
the line from Columbus to PittsburR, and
2 o'clock this morning was fixed to strike
the blow About 50 warrants were issued
for the men in Pittsburgh. | can't tell how
many for other places, but it was at every
point along the line; it will run up in the
| hundreds. 1t is the biggest thing of the
kind that ever happened in Pittsburg, OF
in railroad matters ia, the world, for moth.
ing like it has ever happened before.
cannot tell. how many men are under arrest
or who the ring-leaders are. This much
will say, however, we suspect outsiders
of being implicated in the robberies, but
know nothing positive"
The most important arrest made here
was that of Brakeman Young. He called
|
morning and was Immediately locked up
At first he protested he was innocent, but
finally admitted that he had large lot OF
stolen property at his house and told how
the goods had come into his possession
His confession will, it is said, convict /;
crews kilograms from Cadiz Steuben
vile and points west of Columbus report
the arrest of a large number of railroad
men implicated in the robberies. The pre-
liminary hearing will be held on the 18th
The crews of men that had been arrested
had left large number of trains deserted
There were, "A of these trains packed
closely together on the side tracks in thu
yards. The detention of freight, how
ever, was only temporary.
Joseph Rue, special agent of the Penn
| sylvanla railroad, who has been chiefly in
strumental in running the thieves dowr
says: Eastern bound trains were not mo
Tested. Western bound trains have beer
the sufferers. Near as we can estimate i
these robberies have been going on two
years. After most exhaustive search w,
concluded that the robberieS were com
mitted west of Pittsburg. After two
months work we found they were commit
ted between Pittsburg and Dennison
that out of so crews 10 were practicing
| gigantic scheme of robbery.
I'VE We're badly stalled at first by thu
fact that the seals on the cars were gen
orally found intact when the cars reached
Columbus on the way westward TIT
seal is of lead about the size Of a nicke
and is about one-eighth of All inch thick
| The wire used in connection with 1t Il
one-siXteenth inch iron wire. There arr
curls in it to prevent its being pulled
through the lead seal. The method o
using it is as follows: The wire is passed
through the SEAL then through the hasl
of the car-doors, then back through thu
seal again, forming an unbroken circle
| \ N iS
| the seals"
zone of our brightest men concealed be
hind a car saw a freight crew come to a car
The wire was pulled out of the seal, tn
door thrown back and the car entered. In
short time the men emerged carrying {
lot of plumber. The conductor shut tn
door, ran the wire through the seal wher
1t had been pulled out and with a boar,
struck it a blow. The wire went back t
it's place, and the blow united the sof
lead again without destroying the letter
ing on either side and the seal was ar
parently untouched"
We now have our hands on ever
thievish employe and we are IN easy reacl
of those who are not arrested. The com
bination to rob freight train necessitate,
the guilty knowledge and actual partici
patton of the conductor, middle brakeman
and rear brakeman or fagman, Itdid no
OF necessity take in the from
brakeman, engineer or fireman
Firearms, caddies of tobacco, boxes G
shoes and the general run Of merchants
supplies for every day use were foun
openly in the caboose cars of each train
Hundreds of boxes which had contane
: the finest of imported cigars were foun
hold their caps and overalls and lantern
, and waste stuff. Almost every man al
rested had from one to ten pawn ticket
tor all sorts of articles on his person.
East Day at the State Prisnn